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RIBMosaic

During the last week, the author of RIBMosaic, WHiTeRaBBiT, has made a lot of improvements to it, and published some very impressive images demonstrating it's ability to export to a wider range of RenderMan Interface Specification and not so compatible renderers.

For full details, please go to the Blender to RenderMan Blog and read :

• Built-in shaders for MOSAIC


• Shader Integration and Pass Controls Complete!


• Another update in MOSAIC's recent progress
  

The rendered images and previous tests can also be seen on the Dreamscape Arts Gallery at MOSAICTestRenders.

After a few weeks of editing XHTML and CSS, and various liaison and admin tasks, I took a break to play with 2D graphic design for the first time in a while. The above RIBMosaic logo is the result.

It reflects the orange and blue Blender logo, but with a range of colours in a mosaic pattern, and a green centre instead, using the interlocking puzzle glyph, representing integration, of the Python logo in a rough texture beneath a smooth finish, suggesting reptilian, and the text in the same typeface Pixar chose for their logo. The edge of the shading band across the logo varies as if the green centre is refractive.

It says Blender, Python, RenderMan and MOSAIC, in one.

Blender to RenderMan Forum

In autumn last year the Blender to RenderMan forum created by Ted Gocek, that was at http://www.bestfreeforums.com/forums/blendertorender.html, was deleted by the host for no reason.

Neither he nor I have a copy of the SQL database, or the facilities to set up our own PHP forum server, or maintain one, so we discussed spreading a new forum across a Google Group, Blogger account, and Googlepages site.

These are now at :

• Blender to RenderMan Group


• Blender to RenderMan Blog


• Blender to RenderMan Site


• Blender to RenderMan Channel
  

Announcements, discussions, questions and answers can be posted to the group.

In addition, once developers of Blender to RenderMan export tools join the group, they will be invited to join the blog.

Announcements about exporters and other tools can be posted on the group, with a link to a more detailed post on the blog, which will also be able to include images, as well as better options for syntax highlighting of code.

When there are more videos of demonstrations, tutorials and rendered animations on individual YouTube accounts, I can create playlists on the Blender to RenderMan Channel, grouping them together in various ways, eg, a full set of tutorials for a particular BlenderMan exporter, another playlist for a collection of demos of all the exporters, collections of animations, and related off-topic content, for example, SGI and Pixar technology demos and shorts.